Palo Alto council adjourns to closed session on city attorney appointment, labor talks; returns with no reportable action

The Palo Alto City Council met in special session on Jan. 15, 2026, and voted to adjourn into closed session to consider a public employee appointment for a city attorney and to confer with labor negotiators. The council recessed into closed session following a brief public comment and a 4-0 roll-call motion. The council later announced there were no reportable actions stemming from that closed session.

A member of the public, identified in the transcript as Herb Bee, used the public-comment period before the closed session to press the council on how a future city attorney contract should be written. Bee argued that the contract or announcement should make clear "the city attorney's client is the city," not an individual officeholder, and urged that any council-appointed officer’s goals and key performance indicators be agreed upon and made public when available. Bee also urged the city to give as much advance notice as possible for meetings and referenced Brown Act notice options (three-day or 24-hour special-meeting notices) as guidance for timely public notice.

After public comment, a motion was made and seconded to adjourn into closed session to take up the two announced items: (1) public employee appointment — city attorney, and (2) conference with labor negotiators. The clerk conducted a roll call on the motion: Mayor Venker, Council member Burt, Council member Lythcott Haines and Council member Rechtel were recorded as voting yes; the motion carried, "4 yes, 3 absent." No names were provided in the transcript for the three absent seats.

When the council returned from closed session, the presiding official stated the body had "no reportable actions." The transcript records no formal appointment, direction, or vote arising from the closed session that could be disclosed publicly at that time.

The meeting record showed the announced closed-session topics but did not include details of any deliberations (as expected for closed session) or any public action taken after the recess. The public commenter also referenced another meeting date in which similar items were said to appear; that scheduling note was presented as the commenter’s statement and was not confirmed on the record by staff during the session.

The council proceeded to confirm there were no agenda changes and moved to adjourn. The council did not announce any next steps on the public record related to the city attorney recruitment or labor negotiations at the conclusion of the meeting.